Magnetic Resonance (MRI) Imaging, or Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Imaging, has enabled doctors to obtain cross-sectional images of the various structures of the human body with greater contrast between tissues than is commonly available with current x-ray techniques. In addition, three-dimensional images of body structures may be created from MRI images.
The enhanced contrast between tissues and the ability to create three-dimensional images of body structures from MRI images has resulted in an increasing dependence on MRI in the diagnosis and treatment of various illnesses and injuries. MRI has proven extremely useful in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries to the joints. Since a large percentage of the debilitating sports injuries that are treated are to the knee and the shoulder, MRI has been most frequently employed in imaging these joints. However, it is also commonly used to evaluate the wrist, elbow, ankle and hip.
During imaging, the force on a joint is unknown to the radiologist analyzing the image. But, even if known the force on the joint could vary during the imaging process. Consequently, these factors could result in an inaccurate or incomplete analysis of the images obtained.